Vodacom Press Conference: Garry Cook *VIDEO*

Speaking at the Vodacom Challenge press conference, Manchester City CEO Garry Cook explained that trips like the one to South Africa could become a common occurrence over the coming years, as City look to expand their fan base on a global scale.

'I think Man City has a strong heritage in the world of football, particularly in England. We've become the focus of attention, most definitely in the past 12 months.

'The quality of players that we're bringing to the club is showing the intent of our owners and our ambition continues to reach new heights.

'When you start to so that, that attention starts to develop a fan base around the world.

'I think what this event does for us is enable us to reach out to those fans and reach out to those new communities.

'Everybody likes to have fans around the world and not just in Manchester, so we hope we will become the darling of world football.'

Since Manchester City's takeover by ADUG in 2008, the Eastlands based club have continually been linked with top stars from around the world for huge sums of money.

City's recent summer signings of Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez have cost the club in the region of £55m and illustrate the ambition of the owners and management.

Garry Cook went on to reveal that the club are not throwing money about on any player worth over £10m, but are in fact spending their money very carefully in order to ensure that the club's position is safeguarded for the next decade.

'This isn't really about spending,' Cook said. 'I'd like to just make sure the message is clear that we're investing in the future of the football club.

'The investments that we're making currently will define the football club for the next 10 years.

'I think when you do that to compete with the top four in the Premier League you have to invest to reach those new levels.'